


Bodyguard Bop

by Soul_in_Armour



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emperor Ling Yao, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Promised Day, more relationships and characters will be added once the next chapters are up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29347788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soul_in_Armour/pseuds/Soul_in_Armour
Summary: Having survived his encounter with Lust, Barry the Chopper eventually ends up working under Lan Fan and Ling Yao in Xing, much to the nobles of Xing's dismay.
Relationships: Ling Yao & Barry the Chopper
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. Feast and Feist

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this the other day, then deleted it. I ended up completely rewriting it, and I think this is way more true to the characters.

Ling sat at the head of the table, overlooking the nobles. They were all eating the food laid out in front of them, but there wasn’t the usual chatter and swapping of pleasantries. Every now and then, they’d glance anxiously in his direction. He had been spending most of the night suspended in their nervous silence.

Ling spared the companion standing by his chair a glance. He decided it was time to speak up. “This is a celebratory feast. Aren’t you enjoying the festivities? Just because I’m emperor doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me like an equal,” he said calmly. An older woman with greying hair seated not far from him cracked a forced smile.

“It’s not that,” she said, her voice strained. Ling’s gaze travelled to her hand, which slipped off the table and flicked towards the floor.

In an instant, half of the nobles had unsheathed daggers and were swarming over the table towards him. The other half were paralyzed with shock.

In the next instant, the person who had been standing by Ling’s chair had rushed at the assassins and they were soon lying on the floor, dazed or unconscious.

The woman who had ordered their advance stared at her companions, shaking all over. She slowly turned towards the one who had beat them.

“Barry, stand down,” Ling said, rising to his feet. Barry pulled his cleaver out of the table, leaving a massive cut. He glared at a noble who was staring at him. 

“If any of you step out of line, I’ll chop everyone up next time!” he threatened, waving a blade towards them. Some nodded nervously, others tried to back up, all of them were sweating bullets.

The greying woman stumbled out of her chair, and made a break for the door. The cleaver flew past her head, grazing her hair and landing in the doorframe. Barry chased after her, and kicked her down. She fell to the ground, and tried to scramble out of the way. 

Ling walked to the door and closed it. “Where did you say you were from? Amestris, right?” he asked casually. 

The woman nodded, although her eyes weren’t on Ling. Barry loomed over her, tore the cleaver out of the doorframe, and pointed it at her neck.

“I was told an Amestris woman by the name of Claudia Paulette Armstrong would be attending, but I received a letter from her saying that she needed to visit her grandson, who was feeling unwell. If I recall, she said she ditched everything and dashed right over, and that the letter was to be posted by her daughter,” Ling continued. “I could never imagine a woman with such dedication to her family trying to kill  _ anyone. _ ” 

“Oh come on, no one wants to hear all that crap!” Barry complained, resting his cleaver on his shoulder. “When are you gonna punish her and her stooges!?”

“You’re a guard, not an executioner,” Ling said. He hauled the woman to her feet. “You see, you’ll probably have to face jail time for an attempted assasination against the emperor, but, y’know, the best I can do is send you back to your own country.

“She had connections in Xing of all places, so I’ll have someone look into these people. They’ll be put in time out for now,” he added, turning to Barry. 

“Prison it is, then!” he said cheerfully, leaving Ling to deal with the woman. He set to work gathering the assassins off the ground as if they were toys left out by a child. The innocent nobles began whispering among themselves, trading anxious looks. Every now and then, they’d glance at Barry.

Ling led the woman back to the table, and sat her down in her seat. Her confusion was reflected by the rest of the company. 

“The rest of the guards are out enjoying the festival,” he explained. “I don’t want to bother them with a boring escort job. The Amestrian is unarmed. What is she going to do? Stab me?”

“What about General Lan Fan?” a noble asked.

“She’s feeling unwell today, so I made her get some rest. Good excuse to set Barry to work, eh?”

He was met with silence. “By all means, if you have a problem with him, tell me,” he carried on. “If a king isn’t open to the word of the people, what good is he?”

A noble pointed a shaky finger past Ling, to where Barry had taken off his head and was stuffing assassins into his armour. 

“Oh,” Ling remarked with much less concern than he should have.


	2. Not Dramatic Enough to be Called an Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ling meets up with Barry after he delivered the assassins to their cells.

Ling stood on the steps of the dining hall, overlooking the festivities below. The sound of clanking metal against stone joined the shouts of joy from the streets below. He offered Barry a small smile.

“Thanks for taking care of that,” Ling said.

“They’re so lame!” Barry growled in reply. “Can’t even wield a dagger probably, and the blades weren’t even proper Xingese steel!” 

“That’s strange. Do you think the Amestrian gave them the weapons?”

“Eh, seems likely. Speaking of which, you promised me some shiny new Xingese cleavers! Backing out on your side of the deal!?” He loomed over him, the setting sun casting stark shadows over his face. 

“It’s not that. We’re still getting them forged, as well as your new tunic organised. I wasn’t planning on putting you to work until we were more organised, but Lan Fan caught that nasty cold. Don’t stress yourself out over it.” Ling bumped his fist against Barry’s chest, unfazed. 

“She did say she was starting to feel better before we brought you out,” he continued. “So, how about she can accompany me for the rest of the night, and you go help out around the festival? Stop any future murder attempts, huh?”

Barry’s shoulders slouched. “Yeah, whatever, lover boy. I prevent plenty with self-control.”

Ling laughed. “I could have you chopped up yourself,” he said lightly. “Remember who’s in charge here.”

“An actual kid?”

“I’m eighteen, so I’m an  _ adult. _ ” 

“I can’t believe you lead a nation,” Barry retorted. Before Ling could carry on their banter, a resounding  _ clunk  _ came from within Barry’s armour. There was a muffled yell, followed by more clanking.

“Oh my God. I forgot one,” he said. Tossing his head to the ground, he leant over. “Hey kid, get this person outta me!”

Ling reached in, grabbing the assassin under the arms and dragging her out. She was only halfway out before she flopped in his arms and slithered onto the ground in a miserable heap. “I surrender,” she groaned. The woman had clearly got over the adrenaline of waking up inside someone, and was still recovering from unconsciousness.

“New idea! How about you fetch that Amestrian woman, and interrogate both her and this noble! If you do that, I’ll have a little surprise waiting for you!” Ling suggested.

“Now  _ that’s  _ something I can get behind!” Barry replied. He grabbed the woman by the collar with one hand, and grabbed his head with the other. “Get your girl some nice food, kid!” he said as he passed Ling. 

He responded with nothing but a grin and a wave. He left Barry to deal with the women, screams of terror persisting even as he reached the bottom of the steps. 

The moment he stepped onto the streets, a small teenage boy with spiky black hair came running up to him. Ling noticed the messenger uniform instantly. 

“Finally got that job, huh, Jun?” he asked.

Jun nodded excitedly. “All thanks to General Lan Fan!” he replied with a massive smile. “She let me train with her other guards sometimes! It did  _ wonders _ for my chances of becoming a messenger! Fighting is fun, but I wanna travel and deliver stuff to all of Xing! Not just the capital! And being able to defend myself and my load is great!”

Ling listened to the boy talk patiently. He ruffled his hair with a grin. “Sounds just like her. Do you have a message for me?”

“Yep!” Jun presented him with an envelope marked with the Chang’s clan symbol. 

“Ah, wrong one! That’s for the general’s eyes  _ only! _ ” Jun said, snatching it back before Ling could take it. “I have special instructions from the sender herself. She said ‘if the emperor or anyone who isn’t General Lan Fan sets eyes on it, they will wake up to a bed full of fleas!’”

“Aw, she doesn’t mean it. Knowing her, the punishment will be  _ much _ worse.”

“Your tone is too cheerful for something so grave,” he replied with a nervous laugh. “Anyways, here’s the right letter. Deliver the other one to the general for me, ‘kay?”

Ling took both with a nod. “You better get going, there’s lots of other people waiting for their letters!”

“Oh, right!” Jun said. “See ya!” He took off at a sprint, disappearing into the celebrating crowds.

“What a good kid,” Ling mused. He turned his attention to the letter addressed to him. It wasn’t sealed, but instead stamped with the head of the armoury’s clan crest. Tucking the letter for Lan Fan into his robes, he opened the other.

_ “Your highness,  _

_ The cleavers you requested for your new bodyguard are completed. The tunic has also arrived, so we had them delivered here. You can collect them whenever you’re available. _

_ We apologise for the delay, there was an error in the creating process and the weapons were made several sizes too small. However, my daughter now has an excellent set of meat cutting knives.  _

_ Signed,  _

_ Head of the Royal Armoury” _

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the formality of it all. He missed the casual exchange he’d have with the kingdom’s subjects, not unlike the one he had with Jun minutes earlier.

_ It’s getting late. I better hurry and get this letter to Lan Fan.  _ With that thought, he set off towards the soldiers’ barracks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a while because I ended up rewriting and taking it in a different direction. Lan Fan will be here soon, I promise!

**Author's Note:**

> The next chapter will be up pretty soon! I'm planning for it to be mostly shenanigans tbh


End file.
